Slideshow: Co-Authors Sean Hayes & Scott Icenogle Introduce ‘Plum!’

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Scott Icenogle, co-author of ‘Plum!’.

CHICAGO – Tis the season for a holiday children’s book, and actor Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace”) and husband Scott Icenogle have co-written “Plum!,” the story of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the quest to get her wings. The couple appeared at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville (Illinois) to sign books and greet admirers.

Sean Hayes will always be Jack on “Will & Grace,” especially as it has been recently rebooted on NBC-TV. He was born right here in Chicago, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Glen Ellyn. After leaving Illinois State University (to become a music director for a theater in St. Charles, Ill.), he took his training as a classical pianist and improv at The Second City and moved to Los Angeles, where he was featured in a Doritos Super Bowl commercial and as the lead in “Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss,” both in 1998. Remarkably, he was cast as Jack MacFarland in “W&G” the same year.


During and after the first run of the series, Hayes kept busy in character roles, as he portrayed Jerry Lewis in the TV Movie “Martin and Lewis” (2002) and Larry of “The Three Stooges” (2012). He made his Broadway debut in 2010 in “Promises Promises” and hosted the Tony Awards the same year. He is also a notable TV producer (with friend Todd Milliner), as their “Hazy Mills” Productions has created “Hot in Cleveland” and “Hollywood Game Night,” among other shows.

Sean Hayes was initially reticent about expressing his orientation, thinking it would limit his acting roles, but eventually came out to The Advocate magazine in 2010. In 2014, he married his partner of eight years, musician Scott Icenogle, and now they have co-authored the new children’s book “Plum!.”

Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com shot these Exclusive Portraits of Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle at the Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville on November 27th, 2018. Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos © Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com.

1. SEANHAYES1 [21]: Sean Hayes of ‘Will and Grace,’ co-author of ‘Plum!’.
2. SEANHAYES2 [22]: Scott Icenogle, co-author of ‘Plum!’.
3. SEANHAYES3 [20]: The creative couple and their new book.

[23]	By PATRICK McDONALD [24] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [23]